


All-Nighter

by goshinote



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27385768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goshinote/pseuds/goshinote
Summary: While pulling an all-nighter to study for a final exam, two strangers are forced to share quarters in a university conference room while studying. As the night goes on, they bond over their shared exhaustion with college while slowly revealing their backgrounds. Who knew tripping over what you thought was a dead body could lead to something so incredible?Originally posted on FFN on 12/12/2017
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	All-Nighter

**All-Nighter**

Just one more final…just one more final.

Stifling a huge yawn, I kept my mantra going in my head as I walked toward my university's student center.

It was hell-oops, I mean it was finals week, and I was running on about twelve hours of sleep within the last seven days. Luckily, it was Thursday night, so I only had to get through my last final tomorrow and then I was done.

Glancing at my phone, I saw that it was almost eleven-thirty. I groaned and continued my trek to the student center. It was my favorite place to study; I just couldn't focus in the library. It was too open and too crowded all the time.

The student center was full of conference rooms, some big and some small. My absolute favorite room to study in was medium-sized with a large table and chairs. It was easy to spread all my schoolwork out and prepare any homework I had.

In an attempt to make finals week a little less crappy, the student center was open all night. There was no way I would be able to focus on studying from my dorm. My bed would be screaming my name, so I counted my lucky stars that my school, Goshinboku University, at least gave us this little piece of peace.

Once I reached the student center, I went straight to the basement where all the conference rooms were located. I quickly made my way to my favorite one, hoping it was vacant.

Blessing the stars above, I saw that the light was off. The door was closed, which was odd, but at that moment, I couldn't care less.

I opened the door and flipped the lights on as I began to pull my backpack off.

Then I tripped and dropped all of my stuff.

I barely kept myself from falling, but the little squeal that escaped my mouth was something that I couldn't control.

Turning around to see what I had just tripped over, I saw the body of a boy sprawled out on his back with long silver hair surrounding him.

Holy crap…is he dead?

Before I could freak out, I heard light snoring coming from the body.

"Uh, excuse me?" I said as I lightly tapped the boy with my foot.

The boy only groaned and rolled over. I stared at him for a moment.

Same, I thought to myself.

I didn't have the heart to wake him up. I saw his own backpack beside him and his laptop and what I assumed was a textbook spread out on the floor where he lay. I pitied him, knowing that we were all in the same boat.

Deciding to let him rest, I quietly set my stuff down on the table and sat in a chair. I figured I'd just let him sleep; it's like he was bothering me at all aside from his soft snores.

Once I had the notes I needed for tomorrow's final, I threw myself into studying. I made what felt like a million notecards and fully immersed myself in the content of my Economics class.

Supply and demand, I thought to myself as I copied the words and their definition on a notecard. Twenty minutes later, I was only a quarter of the way finished, but I at least felt a little more prepared.

"Aaaagggghhh!"

I jumped and nearly fell out of my chair as the boy suddenly awoke and sat up on the floor.

"Stop shouting!" I shouted, my exhaustion finally overtaking me and turning into annoyance.

The boy snapped his neck toward me and looked completely disoriented.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked. I couldn't help but laugh.

"No," I replied. "You've been asleep on that floor since I got here at eleven-thirty. I don't how long you were asleep before then." The boy's eyes widened.

"You got here at eleven-thirty?" he repeated. "What time is it now?" I checked my phone.

"It's eleven-fifty-nine," I replied. "So…kinda late." The boy dragged his hand across his face.

"I am so screwed," he muttered. "I thought I would close my eyes and take one of those power naps that's supposed to re-energize you but it only made me more tired so I figured I'd take another one but that was at eleven so now I'm royally screwed." The boy's rambles had become nearly incoherent by the time he'd finished speaking.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "Finals week sucks." The boy began to gather all of his stuff and toss it on the table.

"Yeah, it does," he replied as he got himself organized. He eyed me. "Okay, well, I'm awake." I chuckled.

"I see that," I said. The boy just looked at me seriously.

"So…you can leave now," he replied. I frowned.

"Uh, no, I can't," I argued. "You were freaking asleep in here when someone could have been using this room for legitimate study time. I was nice enough to study as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't wake you up. You're the one that's disturbing me by waking up shouting!" Yeah, maybe I was being rude, but my nerves were fried and I just wanted to go to bed.

"Keh!" he retorted. "It's not like you did me a service! You still busted into this room even though I was in here!" I sighed.

"Whatever," I conceded. "It's too late and I'm too tired to argue with an annoying stranger. I'm staying in this room, whether you like it or not. You can stay in here, too. Believe me: I will not speak to you unless I absolutely have to."

"Promise?" the boy asked sarcastically. I frowned at him again.

"Do you promise?" I shot back.

"Keh!" he said again as he sat down in the chair furthest from me.

We went silent after that. The only sounds we made were the occasional scratching of pencils on paper or quiet I'm so exhausted sighs.

By the time twelve-thirty came around, I put my pencil down and stretched my arms as I stood up.

I stood up from my chair and tried to shake off my tiredness. The boy was still focused on his notes and didn't even glance my way.

Deciding to try and give a peace offering, I spoke to him for the first time in half an hour.

"I'm going to get some coffee," I said. "Do you want anything?" The boy looked up at me, and I saw a fleeting expression of surprise flicker in his eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"No, I'm fine," he replied. "But…uh, thanks." I half-smiled…that was all I was capable of in this point in time.

When I returned five minutes later with my coffee from the student center's café, I saw the boy slouched over on the desk with his face in his textbook.

Is he asleep again?

I moved as close to him as I dared and took a deep breath.

"Hey!" I shouted.

The boy jumped about ten feet in the air and turned around to face me.

"Can you not shout at me?" he asked with a glare. "Or are you one of those idiots that doesn't know how to be freakin' quiet?" I glared right back at him.

"Alright, fine," I retorted. "Next time you fall asleep, I'll just leave you be. Then you'll fail your final. I am trying to be a nice person here, but if maybe I just won't even bother!"

The boy turned back to his textbook. "There you go shouting again," he grumbled under his breath.

Deciding to ignore the comment, I only rolled my eyes and sat back down in my chair.

Thirty more silent minutes went by until he groaned loudly.

"Now who's the loud one," I half-teased. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Sorry if Economics doesn't strike my fancy," he replied. I was surprised.

"You're studying Economics?" I asked, forgetting to be rude. The boy looked at me with a Duh expression on his face.

"I'm in your class," he replied. I was immediately embarrassed.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "Sorry, I've never seen you before." The boy shrugged.

"I'm always the last one in and the first one out," he explained. "And you sit like four rows in front of me in a class of fifty people so I'm not surprised." I couldn't help but laugh.

"That must be it," I replied. "I would definitely remember you if I'd seen you." The boy frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively. I shrugged.

"Your hair is brighter than the reflection that bounces of our professor's bald head when the light hits it just right," I replied. The boy looked shocked, but then he laughed.

It was actually a really nice sound.

"Good one," he said as he tried to catch his breath. "Nice." I smiled at him.

"What's your name?" I asked. He smirked.

"I don't think I'm gonna tell you," he replied. "I wanna keep my aura of mystery." I rolled my eyes.

"Then I'll do the same," I shot back, feigning annoyance. That little smirk stayed on his face, but soon faded when he glanced back at his textbook.

"Do you understand any of this?" he asked. "I'm clueless…and screwed." I held up my flashcards.

"I was iffy about everything until I started making these," I replied. "Do you want to use them when I'm finished? We can just split them in half and switch back and forth." He shook his head.

"No," he replied. "Then you would be doing all the work. How about you finish whatever chapter you're on to the middle of the textbook? I'll do the second half and then we can switch." I thought for a moment.

"That's actually a really good idea," I praised. "Let's do it." The boy nodded and took the flashcards I handed him. Picking up his pencil and flipping to the correct page in his textbook he got to work as I did the same.

An hour later, I set my pencil down and worked out the cramps in my hand.

"I'm finished," I said. The boy didn't look up from what he was doing.

"I'm halfway done with the last chapter," he replied. "Give me like ten minutes." I yawned and stood up.

"I'm getting a snack from the vending machine," I told him. "Do you want something?"

"No thanks," he replied as he kept working.

I left him alone and went out to the vending machine. That was another thing I liked about this room: it was right across from the plethora of snacks available.

After debating for a moment, I chose a bag of pretzels.

Once I'd inserted my money and grabbed the snack, I yawned again and headed back in the room.

"You have the loudest yawn I've ever heard in my life," the boy said. "Can you at least try to be quiet?" I frowned at him.

"Don't start getting rude again," I replied. "You just started being civil." He rolled his eyes but didn't argue further.

Ten minutes later, he practically threw his pencil down and slammed the textbook shut.

"Done," he announced. I picked up my flashcards and handed them to him.

"Take these," I instructed. "And I'll take yours so we can each study what we haven't seen yet. It'll be easier to combine everything and connect the notes." He silently took the notecards from me and handed me his.

"What time is it?" he asked. I checked my phone and sighed.

"It's two-fifteen," I replied. He groaned.

"I'm so tired," he complained. "I hate everything." I ignored his complaints and focused on the notecards.

"At least our final isn't until noon," I said optimistically. "So we'll get at least a little sleep." The boy stood up.

"Where are you going?" I asked. He looked at me oddly.

"To the bathroom…?" he replied, as if I could read his mind.

"No need to bring the sass back!" I shouted. He frowned.

"No need to bring the shouting back!" he yelled as he walked out the door and half-slammed it behind him.

Just as we were starting to have a nice time, I thought to myself.

I had to admit it…studying with him actually was a lot more beneficial, and I knew that we'd both saved time by each making flashcards.

When the boy returned a few minutes later, I handed him the flashcards. "Are you ready to switch?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. "I only have a few more to go though so it shouldn't be too long." I nodded and reached into my backpack. The boy's eyes widened when he saw what I pulled out.

"Is that a toothbrush and toothpaste?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah," I replied. "So?" To my surprise, he laughed and reached in his backpack to pull out a toothbrush and toothpaste of his own.

"I always bring these when I pull all-nighters," he said. "I feel gross if I don't." I laughed with him.

"I know, right?" I replied. "I'll be right back." The boy stood up and followed me.

"I'll go, too," he said. "I forgot to bring mine when I took a leak." I rolled my eyes at the phrase but didn't respond. We both walked out the door and headed toward the bathroom.

To my shock and semi-horror, the boy followed me straight into the ladies' room.

"What are you doing?" I screeched when he went straight to the sink. He wet his toothbrush nonchalantly.

"I'm brushing my teeth," he replied. "Duh." I frowned and checked the stalls.

"What if there had been, oh, I don't know, a woman in here?" I asked. He looked at me as he squirted his toothpaste on the toothbrush.

"Then I would've minded my own freakin' business," he said as he began brushing his teeth. I rolled my eyes but didn't bother pressing the issue.

I got my own toothbrush ready and set to work on cleaning my teeth.

The boy finished first and as he wiped his face with a paper towel, I rinsed my mouth and grabbed my own paper towel.

"You wanna test out how good my toothpaste tastes?" the boy asked flirtatiously. My eyes widened.

"Don't flirt with me," I commanded. He laughed.

"I'm kidding," he replied. "As if I would flirt with you." I scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shouted. He covered his ears.

"Enough with the shouting!" he yelled.

"Okay, calm down," I said. "I never yelled that loudly." He opened the bathroom door and stormed out.

I was caught off-guard how quickly his mood soured.

Things were silent in the room until about ten minutes after we got settled.

"I'm finished with the notecards," he announced curtly as he handed them to me. Silently, I traded with him.

Before I even looked at the cards, I peered at him.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you," I apologized. He didn't look up.

"Whatever," he replied gruffly. Something sounded off…in all the times he'd sounded annoyed, this was different.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" I asked. "Why the yelling bothers you so much? It doesn't seem like a thing of simple annoyance." That's when he looked up.

"If I tell you, will it get you to shut up?" he shot back.

"I won't shout," I promised. "But I'm not gonna just not talk." The boy looked at me pensively for a moment until he spoke.

"My brother was…not nice when I was a kid," he said quietly. "My parents worked a lot so he had to watch me. He's eight years older, so he wasn't too keen on watching his toddler brother and he resented me for it. His favorite method of punishment was yelling. Loud, mean, degrading yelling." He sighed. "So, yeah. I don't like yelling." I immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "That sounds awful." The boy shrugged.

"It was a long time ago," he replied. My curiosity piqued.

"So…why were you yelling at me?" I asked. "If it bothers you so much, why did you do it?" He looked at me defensively.

"I used to yell back at my brother," he replied. "Old freakin' habits die freakin' hard." I nodded.

"I don't like to be alone," I admitted, assuming that a confession from me was warranted. "Well, not for too long." I sighed.

"That was my punishment for misbehaving when I was little," I explained. "My mother would say, 'Kagome, go sit by yourself and think about what you've done.' She had a time-out chair set up in my bedroom, so that's where I would have to go." I chuckled.

"It's funny now, but she used to forget that I was in time-out because I was such a quiet child in general," I continued. "So sometimes I would be in time-out for over an hour. And it's not like she did it on purpose. She's a great mom. It was just an honest mistake that led to some irrational fear." The boy stared at me.

"That sucks…but thanks," he replied sincerely, "for telling me." I smiled and nodded.

After a quiet moment, he looked at me mischievously.

"So," he began. "You let a little secret slip."

"What?" I asked, confused. He raised his eyebrows.

"Your name," he clarified. "Kagome." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, no," I exaggerated. "You've discovered my deepest, darkest secret." The boy chuckled.

"Ka-go-me," he repeated. I laughed.

"Are you going to tell me yours now?" I asked. He shook his head.

"You wish," he replied. "That's for me, and only me, to know." I shrugged.

"See if I care," I lied. The curiosity was actually killing me.

"Uh-huh," he taunted. "Seems to me like you do." I shrugged again.

"Right, okay," I teased back without looking at him. "Shut up and study." He chuckled and then we fell into silence.

"I'm bored," he said twenty minutes later. I didn't look up from my notes.

"If you studied, then you'd be busy," I chided. "Then you wouldn't be bored." He leaned back in his chair.

"So what year are you? And what's your major?" he asked, completely ignoring me. "And your minor?" I sighed and set the flashcards down.

"I'm a sophomore," I replied. "My majors are Political Science and Global Studies. My minors are Asia Studies and History." The boy pretended to pass out.

"Ka-go-me," he chided. "How are you not dead?" I ask myself that question every day.

"I have no clue," I admitted. "What about you?"

"I'm a sophomore, too," he replied. "My major is Criminal Justice and my minor is Psychology."

"What do you want to do with that degree?" I asked. He thought for a moment.

"I was thinking being a forensic investigator," he replied. "Or maybe something else. I don't really know right now. What about you?"

"I have no clue," I admitted. "My mom suggested getting my money's worth in degrees so I'll have plenty of options when I graduate." The boy nodded in approval.

"That's a good idea," he replied. "My parents aren't really involved in my schooling."

"Why not?" I asked. The boy's face clouded over.

"My mom passed away three years ago," he replied. Empathy filled me.

"I'm so sorry," I said sincerely. "I understand. My dad passed away when I was a kid." The boy met my gaze.

"I don't meet a lot of people who get it like that," he replied. "So…thank you for telling me." I smiled bitter-sweetly. "You, too," I said honestly. "But please, finish telling me if you don't mind." The boy nodded.

"My dad threw himself into his work after she died," he continued. "My brother moved to Germany as soon as he turned eighteen. I have no clue what possessed him to do that but whatever. Anyway, my dad kind of reverted into himself. I still lived with him, but we pretty much stopped talking. We don't talk at all anymore, so I'm kinda just on my own." His eyes looked far off, and I wondered if he even realized that he was still talking.

"I'm sorry," I said after he'd been quiet for a moment. He focused back in on me and shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry," he replied. "I shouldn't have gone on like that." I smiled at him.

"It's okay," I said honestly. "Who better to talk about your drama with than a perfect stranger in the middle of the night?" He laughed.

"I would say we're a little more than perfect strangers by now," he corrected. "Wouldn't you?" I tapped my chin in mock-pensiveness.

"Hmm…" I eyed him. "Considering I still don't even know your name…" The boy smirked.

"Oh, come on," he insisted. "I don't ever talk about that kind of crap with anyone. You're not a stranger now." I was about to tease him again, but his words stopped me.

"I've never told anyone about my fear of being alone," I admitted. "Not even my mom…" I smiled. "So you're not a stranger either." He seemed triumphant.

"Uh-huh, see?" he replied. "Told ya." I laughed again as we just looked at each other for a moment.

"There's something I didn't tell you, though," he said suddenly. "And…well, I think I would feel relieved if I told someone." I nodded. "Go ahead," I encouraged.

He paused for a moment. "My mom didn't just die," he said. "She was murdered." My eyes widened as he continued to speak.

"It was a robbery gone wrong," he explained. "She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. You don't ever think you'll be in the convenience store when it gets robbed, but she was. They stole the money from the cash register and killed all the witnesses." He shook his head. "The police found the two guys thirty minutes later. It was a stupid, pointless killing." The boy looked back up at me.

"That's why I'm going into Criminal Justice," he continued. "I want to other prevent that stuff from happening or I want to be someone that cleans up the mess and figures out why something happens."

Without really thinking about it, I quietly got up from my seat and moved to the chair right next to the boy. Once I sat down, I took his hand and looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said honestly. "No one should ever have to go through that." His eyes widened, but he held my gaze.

"What about you?" he asked quietly. "Didn't you go through that?" I sighed.

"My dad wasn't murdered per se, so not exactly," I replied. "But he did die a really bad death caused by someone else. It was a car accident. Drunk driver. The thing is that my dad didn't die instantly. The emergency responders said he was probably still alive for about twenty minutes after the wreck. By the time they got to him, he was dead." The boy squeezed my hand.

"It sucks," he comforted. I laughed quietly. "Yeah," I agreed. "It sucks." We sat in silence for a moment until I realized that our hands were still clasped…and we were sitting really close to each other…

Our eyes met again and I saw a spark of something pass through his golden irises. I thought I saw him start to move, so I squeezed his hand one more time and then got up as nonchalantly as I could.

"Man," I said as I returned to my seat. "It's almost three." The boy kept his eyes on me for a moment until he finally seemed to unfreeze. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

We fell back into silence as we studied the notecards.

When three-thirty came around, we both set our notes down and looked at each other.

"I think I'm as ready as I can get," I said. He nodded. "Yeah," he replied.

The air felt heavy when our eyes met. There was a kindship between us, a connection that I couldn't explain.

"So…" he began.

"So…" I echoed.

"I don't want to leave yet," he said.

"Me neither," I replied, surprising myself.

He smiled.

"Tell me a secret about yourself," he said randomly. Taking the question in stride, I thought about what I could tell him until the perfect thing came to my mind.

"Okay," I began, "I've never told this to anyone before, but I used to be really obsessed with making voodoo dolls." The boy looked shocked, and then he busted up laughed.

"What?" he asked. "That's the weirdest thing ever!" I smirked.

"I was a kid!" I protested. "When I was little, I used to make voodoo dolls of my family and all my friends. Then I would pretend that I could make good things happen to them if I was nice to their voodoo dolls." The boy smiled at that.

"Okay, so that actually is pretty cute," he conceded. "But still weird." I rolled my eyes.

"Alright," I said. "Now you tell me a secret." Just like I had, the boy pretended to look pensive for a moment.  
"I have many secrets, Ka-go-me," he teased. "Narrowing it down will be kind of difficult." I took the opportunity to ask the question that was burning my insides.

"I know one you can tell me," I interjected. "Your name." He smirked.

"Nice try," he taunted. "But that's not for you to know…yet." I laughed.

"Fine, fine," I conceded. "You can pick a different one." He chuckled lightly and thought for a moment.

"I've got a good one," he said. "I dated this girl in high school for like two years, but I never really liked her. She was just really good at baking." My eyes widened in horror.

"That's awful!" I scolded. "Your secret is way worse!" He laughed loudly.

"Oh, please," he replied. "We were freshmen in high school when we got together. How deep can feelings go when you're that young?" I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Sometimes they can go pretty deep," I said. The boy dropped his smile.

"Hmm…" he began. "It sounds like you have experience. A high school sweetheart maybe?" I shook my head.

"More like an 'I-loved-him-but-he-never-loved-me-back-heart," I explained. "It was…bad." The boy looked intrigued.

"Will you tell me about it?" he asked. "If you're comfortable with that…and if it doesn't upset you too much." I nodded.

"No, it doesn't upset me anymore," I replied honestly. "I'll tell you."

"I was in seventh grade when we met," I began. "We became really good friends, but then I started to like him soon after. He told me he didn't feel the same, so we were just friends." I sighed. "I just couldn't get over it. I couldn't let him go. I realized that I loved him about a year and a half after we met, and the feeling lasted until we were seniors in high school.

I looked at the boy as I finished. "Finally, I realized that it just wasn't going to happen so it was time to stop being pathetic and move on."

While I spoke, the boy had looked at me intently. It seemed like he was really trying to picture what I was saying. Even now, he was staring into my eyes with a deep intensity.

"That sounds terrible," he said sincerely. "I'm sorry that happened to you." I shrugged.

"It's all in the past now," I replied. "He and I are still friends, but all the romantic feelings I had are gone." The boy continued to look at me.

"I find it hard to believe that he didn't have feelings for you," he said. "So far, I haven't found anything about you to dislike." My eyes widened when he said that. I was expecting him to smirk or chuckle but he didn't.

His eyes were serious, and I found myself at a loss for words.

Eventually, I got my wits about me and broke eye contact.

"Well, I've found something about you that I dislike," I said. "You date girls for their baking ability." That was when the boy laughed.

"Come on!" he protested. "It was just the one girl!" I giggled.

"Just the one girl you exploited for dessert or one girl that you've dated?" I asked. He looked embarrassed.

"Just one girl I've dated," he replied. I had to admit I was a little surprised.

"Really?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I haven't really met another girl that I would want to be with," he replied. He eyed me but quickly looked away. "Or, you know, one that bakes as well as my high school girlfriend." I laughed.

"What about you?" he asked. "Aside from the jerk that didn't feel the same about you, what's your romantic interest history like?" I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at his wording.

"I dated a guy last year for about four months," I replied. "It was nice, but I ended it because it just kinda faded."

"At least you didn't lead him on," the boy said. I shrugged.

"Yeah," I replied. "I ended it pretty quickly. Ripped that Band-Aid right off." The boy chuckled.

"You're a saint," he teased. I pretended to wave off his sarcasm.

"I really am," I said back.

"And what about now?" he asked. "Are you with anyone?" I shook my head.

"No," I replied. "Are you?" He mirrored me with a shake of his head.

We looked at each other for a moment, but finally I looked away and checked the time.

"It's four in the morning," I said. "Are you tired?" The boy gave a small smile.

"No," he replied. That intense gaze was back.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, surprising myself a bit. After a moment, he seemed to shake himself out of whatever little trance he was in.

"I'm thinking that I'm glad you came in here while I was sleeping," he replied. "I would've probably failed the exam without you." I smiled at him.

"You know I tripped over you?" I asked. "That's when I realized you were in here. I thought you were a dead body." He laughed.

"It's not funny!" I protested. "It scared the crap out of me." The boy only laughed louder, and I couldn't help but join in.

"Okay, it was actually pretty funny," I admitted. The boy smiled.

"I wish I could've seen your face when that happened," he mocked. "That would've been priceless." That received a hard eye-roll from me.

"Whatever," I said jokingly. "It definitely led to a very interesting night."

"That's the understatement of the year," the boy replied. "This is the most fun I've had all semester." I laughed.

"Well, then you had a very boring semester," I said. "Don't you have friends you hang out with?" The boy shook his head.

"My closest friend, Miroku, transferred schools this semester," he explained. "And with the classes I'm taking and all the homework I have, I haven't had time to meet anyone new. Also I live off-campus, so I pretty much only come to go to my classes."

That's so sad, I thought to myself.

"That sucks," I replied. "I understand the part about not having your best friend with you. My best friend, Sango, goes to Shikon University, so we didn't get to experience college life together." The boy looked surprised.

"Did you say Shikon University?" he asked. I nodded.

"That's where Miroku transferred to," he said.

"How weird would it be if they knew each other?" I commented. The boy pulled out his phone.

"I'm gonna text Miroku and ask if he knows a girl named Sango," he said as he typed out and sent the message.

I laughed. "It's the middle of the night," I pointed out. "He's probably asleep." The boy shrugged.

"Then he'll see it when he gets up, the lazy bum," he said.

"Being asleep at four in the morning doesn't make someone a lazy bum," I replied. The boy went to put his phone away, but his eyes widened at something on the screen.

"It's actually almost five now," he corrected. "Holy crap." I sighed. Even though being here with him was really great, I knew I needed to get back to my dorm and try to get some sleep before the exam.

"I should go," I finally said as I started packing up my stuff. "The exam is in like, seven hours and I need to at least try to sleep a little before I get ready for it." The boy looked disappointed.

"Yeah, me too," he replied as he began putting his notes and textbook in his backpack. "I should get home."

Once we were all packed up, we both walked to the door.

"I have to go that way," he said as he referred to the downstairs exit that led to the parking lot.

"Oh," I replied. "Okay." The boy looked at me a moment more, and then he was dropping his backpack to the floor and pulling me to him.

When his lips met mine, I let my backpack fall to ground behind me so I could wrap my arms around his neck. He pulled me impossibly closer as we kissed, and I began to wonder how I'd wound up kissing a boy I'd known for barely six hours.

Is that it? I realized. I feel like I've known him forever…

Finally, the boy pulled away and we just looked at each other.

"Inuyasha," he said.

"Huh?" I asked, a little dazed from the kiss. He chuckled at me.

"My name," he replied. "It's Inuyasha." I smiled.

"Inuyasha," I repeated. "I like it."

"Kagome," he said. "I like you." I felt myself blush, and Inuyasha laughed.

His fingers gently brushed my cheeks before he finally let me go.

"I'll see you at noon," he said.

"I'll see you at noon," I said back. With one last smile, he turned and left.

What a night, I thought to myself as I began to head back to my dorm.

O.o.O

After I'd gotten back to my dorm, slept for about three hours, then got up and got ready, I headed to class.

I sat down in my seat and took out my pencil and silenced my phone.

When the professor walked through the door, I remembered what Inuyasha had said about his seat…

I turned around to look exactly four rows back, and sure enough, there he was.

He smiled and waved to me.

I smiled back and then turned around.

My heart was beating hard, and I knew it wasn't just from nerves for the exam.

After I finished the exam, I got up to turn it in to the professor at the front of the room. When I turned back around to get my stuff from my desk, I saw that Inuyasha was gone.

Disappointment filled me, but I tried to be fine with it.

So he'd kissed me this morning. No big deal.

Oh, come on, I chided myself. Of course it's a big deal.

Deciding to just try and be cool about it, I tossed my backpack over my shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

"Kagome?" a voice said once I'd passed the doorway. Turning to look, I saw Inuyasha smiling at me.

I smiled back, full of a mix of relief and excitement.

"Hey, stranger," I replied as he made his way over to me. "How do you think the exam went?" He smirked.

"I'm feeling an A," he said. "But I had some help…" I laughed.

"I'll walk you to wherever you're going?" he asked. I nodded.

"I'm heading back to my dorm," I said. "I have to finish packing so I can head home tonight."

"Where is home?" Inuyasha asked as we walked.

"I live in a really small town about an hour away," I replied. "What about you? Where is home?"

"Twenty minutes away," he said. "I live right outside of the city."

"That must be nice," I replied. "Not having to live on campus." He shrugged.

"It has its perks," Inuyasha said. "Oh, and you'll never believe this, but Miroku said that he does know Sango." I laughed.

"Wow, what a small world," I replied. Inuyasha shook his head.

"That's not even the crazy part," he said. "They're dating." My eyes widened. Sango had told me about a new guy she'd been seeing, but she hadn't mentioned his name yet.

"Are you serious?" I asked. Inuyasha nodded.

"I'm completely serious," he replied. "I couldn't believe it."

I'm calling Sango as soon as I get to my dorm, I thought to myself.

"Maybe the four of us could do something soon," he suggested. "That would be…fun." I smiled.

"Yeah, it would be," I agreed.

Inuyasha and I chatted about some fun stuff in the area that the four of us could do.

By the time we'd come up with a few ideas, we'd reached my dorm.

"Well," I said as I took my keys out of my backpack. "I guess I'll see you later." Inuyasha smiled.

"Yeah, you will," he replied. "But, uh, can I get your number? You know…to make plans and stuff." I laughed.

"Sure," I said. I grabbed a pen out of my backpack and took his hand. As I scribbled my number on the back of it, he laughed.

"It feels like we're in high school," he teased. "Are you gonna say, 'HAGS?'" I rolled my eyes as I finished and put the cap back on the pen.

"What the heck is 'HAGS?'" I asked. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"It means 'have a great summer,'" he replied. "Duh." I laughed.

"Whatever," I teased back. "HAGS, I guess." Inuyasha chuckled again and reached out to lightly cup my cheeks in his hands.

"Is it alright if I kiss you?" he asked. I pretended to think for a moment.

"Hmm…" I began, "I don't know…you tell me." Smirking, Inuyasha leaned down and gently pressed his lips to mine. It was a short, chaste kiss, much different than this morning.

But somehow, it still made my knees weak and my heart race.

When we pulled away, Inuyasha smiled at me.

"I'll see you soon," he said.

"I'll see you soon," I repeated.

As he left, it felt like something was beginning.

Something beautiful.

FIN.


End file.
